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The overwhelmingly Democratic legislature of Maryland could not legalize gay marriage, but the Republican controlled legislature of New York did.

Maybe there’s a lesson in there somewhere… that no one should need permission from the government to enter a contract, and the least likely place to find people who believe that is the Democratic party.

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The original bill to permit direct shipping of wine to the subjects of the State of Maryland and Liquor Distributors allowed for both wineries and retail outlets, and had minimal requirements to register.

The bill crafted behind closed doors by a few legislators and the liquor distribution lobby removed retailers altogether, and required a $1000 bond and $200 per year for wineries to register for the privilege to ship a legal product to grownups in Maryland.

Wine retailers are still not allowed to ship to consumers, which keeps popular Internet-based wine-of-the-month clubs off limits, though consumer advocates have vowed to continue lobbying Annapolis to allow retail delivery.

“If there’s a particular bottle that you want shipped, and it’s not offered by one of the wineries with a permit, you’re right back to the same problem as before the new law,” said Adam Borden, president of Marylanders for Better Beer and Wine Laws.

“There were people who felt, let’s get this done right the first time. But the General Assembly was more, ‘One step at a time.'”

Borden said the cost to sign up, including the $200 yearly fee and a $100 annual insurance payment on the required $1,000 bond, might be prohibitive for many of the country’s smaller wineries.

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Really, though, how seriously do I want this outcome? I could build more muscle if I spent not six hours weekly at the gym but, rather, six hours daily. But I choose not to do so. Spending more time at the gym means spending less time working (that is, earning income), less time with family and friends, and less time doing other things that I judge to be worthwhile. The fact that I’d be more buff if being more buff were costless is irrelevant. It’s not costless; therefore, the size of my muscles is largely the result of the way I choose to make trade-offs.

So I resist the temptation to envy men with bigger muscles (men whose muscles, do note, were not built with fiber taken from my muscles). And if muscle redistribution by government were possible, I’d oppose it. Not only would the result be less muscle bulk to ‘redistribute’ (Would you pump weights for hours each day knowing that a large chunk of what you build will be stripped away and given to someone else?) but, more importantly, I’m not entitled to the confiscated fruits of other people’s efforts.

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Today, we have Republican NY State Senator Roy McDonald, on his support to legalize gay marriage:

You get to the point where you evolve in your life where everything isn’t black and white, good and bad, and you try to do the right thing. You might not like that. You might be very cynical about that. Well, fuck it, I don’t care what you think. I’m trying to do the right thing. I’m tired of Republican-Democrat politics. They can take the job and shove it. I come from a blue-collar background. I’m trying to do the right thing, and that’s where I’m going with this.

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The Obama Administration, in defending itself against a small group of legislators who dared suggest the President needs to consult with Congress before attacking another nation, suggests that firing missiles and airstrikes are not hostile enough to meet the criteria of the Constitution or War Powers Act. From the Right Wing Conspiracy leaders, the New York Times:

The White House, pushing hard against criticism in Congress over the deepening air war in Libya, asserted Wednesday that President Obama had the authority to continue the military campaign without Congressional approval because American involvement fell short of full-blown hostilities.

In a 38-page report sent to lawmakers describing and defending the NATO-led operation, the White House said the mission was prying loose Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s grip on power.

In contending that the limited American role did not oblige the administration to ask for authorization under the War Powers Resolution, the report asserted that “U.S. operations do not involve sustained fighting or active exchanges of fire with hostile forces, nor do they involve U.S. ground troops.” Still, the White House acknowledged, the operation has cost the Pentagon $716 million in its first two months and will have cost $1.1 billion by September at the current scale of operations.

I am a bit concerned this is the position of the Greatest President Of All Time, and a supposed Constitutional Scholar. Looks more to me like a position the previous occupant of the White House might have held, a position The Greatest President Of All Time might have referred to as ‘failed policy’.

This looks more and more like a third term of the Bush Administration.